Month: May 2016

“I thought WE were the good guys?” – a story framework

This is the outline of the story that turned the encounter Little Demons on the Prarie into a 2 session event.

Presented here is the overarching story framework and the elements that define the core ethical dilemma of the piece – the running of this scenario involved additional encounters along the way, which will be presented in separate posts at a later date.

Themes and Objectives:

This story engages an old device that pits the characters’ morals against their integrity and reputation. A powerful being engages the characters to complete a task that seems entirely reasonable, but as they discover more about the task they realise they are potentially acting on behalf on the bad guy of the story.

In this scenario I’ve combined that plot twist with two other story telling devices (because who doesn’t love an over complicated story?) the device of the characters having to travel a distance to meet a deadline and facing delays along the way, and the device of the identity of the true antagonist being hidden. Continue reading ““I thought WE were the good guys?” – a story framework”

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Little Demons on the Prairie – an encounter

This encounter was devised for Exalted, 2nd edition and was originally posted here. Presented here is the outline of a single encounter, which can be inserted into a game by itself as just an odd moment that raises the question of the nature of good and evil, but in my game this encounter formed the basis of a longer story which ran for two sessions. I will post that longer story outline in a future post.

Main themes and scenario objectives:

This encounter ultimately revolves around questioning the nature of purity and corruption on a micro level, and forces the characters to consider where their thresholds are on the scale between the two. The characters ultimately have to decide, on behalf of others, just how much ‘corruption’ is acceptable, and at which point suffering or death are preferable options.

The elements of this encounter might seem a little specific to the setting of Exalted, so I have included some suggestions to help swap out exalted specific elements for things suitable to other game settings. Continue reading “Little Demons on the Prairie – an encounter”

“…but at least he’s MY demon” – an encounter

This scenario was originally written for an Exalted, 2nd Edition campaign (if you’re not familiar with Exalted, read more here and here), and has been previously posted on the Onyx Path Exalted forums, here.

Main themes and scenario objectives:

The point of this encounter was to prompt the characters to explore the boundaries of their sense of right and wrong, all in the context of ‘how far would you go to survive’. There is no  right or wrong way for this scenario to play out, as it ultimately forces the characters to make decisions about who they are and to express those qualities through their actions. Continue reading ““…but at least he’s MY demon” – an encounter”

Tales of Grey-introduction

I’ve been playing table-top role-playing games (or pen-and-paper, if you prefer) for a little over 20 years, and for most of that time I’ve been in the role of Game Master, creating stories, settings and conflicts for my friends to navigate with their characters.

The storytelling aspect of RPGs has always been my favourite part of the hobby, and as a GM I most enjoy devising stories and scenes that (hopefully!) engage players and make the game a more story-driven experience.

The title of this blog is in reference to my preferred approach to devising games, which is to create morally ambiguous situations in which the focus is more about the choices the characters make and the consequences of those choices than just on the results of dice rolls. This can work in different ways depending on the genre constraints of each specific game, but in general I find it an effective way to approach each game session that can result in extended engagement by the players.

This site is a combination of a blog about Roleplaying games and related resources, and a place to collect and publish some of the scenarios, characters and gaming resources I develop along the way on the off chance that anyone else finds them useful.